Sugar started my company

I started Celgenics by accident; I never intended to start a skincare company but of course nothing is an accident and everything we do is preparation for the future. On a summer’s evening 4 years ago, a client was lying on my treatment table, telling me that she was going shopping the following day for a moisturiser. She hated looking for skincare because she was allergic to all the parabens and sodium laurel sulfates that are used as preservatives. I had been doing lots of ‘detox’ work with her because she was very sensitive to perfumes, petrol fumes, hair dyes and lots of foods, but in particular, sugar, which she absolutely loved.

It so happened [serendipity?] that a few months previously, I had spent a lot of money learning how to make creams, serums, cleansers and lots more lovely natural skincare products. I offered to make her a moisturiser which, happily, was a great success and she asked me to make 7 more for her sisters as Christmas presents.

Sugar affects our skin in many ways

So that was how I started and there’s lots more to the story, but the point I want to make is that what we put on our skin, what we eat, what we’re exposed to in the way of toxic chemicals such as paints, pesticides, herbicides to name but a few, can have a profound impact on our health. Sugar is now ubiquitous in our diets. We’re eating more and more of it, in sweets, in biscuits, in Coca Cola and fizzy drinks. It’s so much a part of most people’s lifestyles that we never think about any negative effects it might be having.

Every time you eat sugar you deplete your body of zinc and chromium because they’re both needed to make insulin. And every time you eat sugar, your body has to produce insulin. Insulin is the only hormone we have that reduces blood glucose levels. The sugar ‘rush’ that you get makes you feel nervous and stimulates the brain to crave more sugar. Over time this constant production of insulin produces what’s known as insulin resistance where the cells become resistant to insulin and the constant production of adrenal hormones to keep your energy going can ultimately lead to adrenal exhaustion.

How many people do you know who eat lots of chocolate and biscuits who say they need it to give them energy but who wake up tired and are permanently exhausted? These people frequently have a whole host of allergies.

Over 20 years most of my work has been helping people back to health by looking at toxicity and out of that has grown my new passion – Celgenics – it encompasses all the ‘healing’ tools I use in my practice and which I want to spread into the world!

Not only does it make you tired…it also makes you age. As well as reducing your sex hormones!

Sugar contributes to the ageing process of cells in a range of ways. It’s a sticky substance, and literally sticks to the proteins in the body to form what are called advanced glycated end products – or the very appropriate acronym AGEs. This process is known as glycation. It’s irreversible, and damages the structure of proteins like collagen, so that your immune system has to remove the damaged protein and produce more collagen. This cruel process then depletes you of Vitamin C, so you can’t produce more collagen, leading to a build-up of AGEs, which causes inflammation.

Not only does sugar age your skin – it gives you cellulite too. Cellulite, those lumpy fat deposits that are the bane of women’s thighs and bottoms worldwide, is frequently caused by a build-up of sugar.

The single most important factor that accelerates ageing is insulin…triggered by sugar. But fortunately, the body has an amazing ability to heal itself, given the right ingredients to work with. Cutting out sugar and reducing your insulin can bring huge health benefits, as well as giving birth to gorgeous skin, if you can just control your urges when they hit!

More glow, more vitality – everything you put into your body is visible when you look in the mirror. So check out your skin – what are you waiting for?

Do you struggle with a reliance on sugar? Or have you given up sugar, and found that it’s benefited your health and your skin? Why not tell us in a comment below?